Global smartphone shipments surged +38% annually in Q4 2012. We estimate the top 10 smartphone families accounted for over two thirds of smartphones shipped worldwide during the quarter. Samsung and Apple top the charts, but Sony's Xperia, LG's Optimus and Huawei 's Ascend series are quietly gaining traction. This report, Global Smartphone Shipments by Family / Model: Q4 2012, available to the clients of our HCST (Handset Country Share Tracker) service, tracks the world's best-selling smartphone families and models by shipment volumes from Q1 2011 to Q4 2012. This report will give you the information on how many units of iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note and other flagship models from smartphone vendors have been shipped on a quarterly basis for two years. In this regards, this report is a valuable tool for component makers, car manufacturers, content suppliers, mobile operators, device vendors and other stakeholders who want to identify and measure the world's most-popular smartphones by individual model.

According to our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, the German mobile phone market slipped by -8% year-on-year in Q4 2012, as the broader ongoing macroeconomic challenges affecting the whole of the eurozone trumped the relative strength of the German economy. Following the launch of the iPhone 5, Apple reclaimed a significant chunk of volumes in Germany, but there are also initial signs of traction for Nokia's Lumia Windows Phone family.  The Finnish vendor gained 1 point of sequential marketshare in the quarter. This published report, available to clients, tracks quarterly mobile vendor market share at the four major German operators -- T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and E-Plus -- from Q1 2009 to Q4 2012. The report is an important tool for measuring the health of individual handset brands at the operator level in Western Europe's second largest cellphone market.

According to our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, the UK mobile phone market dipped -4% year-on-year in Q4 2012, mimicking the broader economic challenges of the country. While Samsung and Apple showed healthy growth, this was offset by declines from Nokia, RIM, HTC and the Android long-tail. This published report, available to clients, tracks mobile phone vendor shipments and marketshare at the 4 major UK operators -- O2, Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and Three -- from Q1 2009 to Q4 2012. The report is an important tool for measuring the health of individual device brands at the operator level in Western Europe's largest cellphone market.

Smartphone shipments in the United States grew 25% annually in Q4 2012. Apple captured the number one smartphone spot overall, as well as the top smartphone vendor ranking at the country's two largest operators, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Android partners, such as Samsung, LG, HTC and Huawei, combined to keep the Google platform as the number two OS overall. The full report, USA Smartphone Vendor Marketshare by Operator: Q4 2012, available to the clients of our handset country share tracker (CST) service, tracks mobile smartphone shipments, vendor marketshare, and OS marketshare for 20 major vendors and 5 major platforms in the United States across 4 top operators and total market on a quarterly basis from Q1 2011 to Q4 2012.

Our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) team attended the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone at Radio City in New York, US, on Thursday 14th March, 2013. Several thousand attendees joined the event.

We trialed the S4 earlier this week and were briefed on the strategy behind it. This is a concise summary of our initial analysis:

Key Hardware: As expected, the S4 contains a 5.0-inch, full-HD, super AMOLED display with an impressive 441ppi in a rounded-slate formfactor. There are Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core / Samsung Exynos octo-core chipsets, varying by region. Other specs include 2GB RAM, dual-camera, NFC and MHL. The S4 looks visually similar to the previous S3, but the materials feel better quality and it is slimmer, lighter and nicer to hold in the hand.

Key Software: Samsung has clearly worked hard on its software and the results are impressive. There is finger-hover for the touchscreen, gesture recognition, improved eye-tracking, and better camera-editing.

Key Services: Samsung has layered a rich suite of Samsung proprietary services on top of the Android Jelly Bean OS. There are plenty of “S” services, such as S-Health and S-Translator. Google will be worried by this.

The S4 will launch commercially in the US and worldwide at the end of April 2013. Versions will support 3G, 4G and TD-LTE. There are 325 carriers in 166 countries onboard, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Pricing will be Note-like.

We forecast tens of millions of units to be shipped worldwide this year. Provided there are no major "hidden" bugs that become apparent after launch, the S4 will be another blockbuster product for Samsung.

Which competitors will be impacted by the S4? Apple, LG, Sony, HTC, Blackberry, Nokia, Huawei, ZTE and Motorola will all be getting some sleepless nights in the next few weeks. Models such as iPhone 5 and HTC One could feel some pain.

We will publish a full report to clients on Friday 15th March, 2013.

Our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) team attended the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone at Radio City in New York, US, on Thursday 14th March, 2013. Several thousand attendees joined the event.

We trialed the S4 earlier this week and were briefed on the strategy behind it. This is a concise summary of our initial analysis:

Key Hardware: As expected, the S4 contains a 5.0-inch, full-HD, super AMOLED display with an impressive 441ppi in a rounded-slate formfactor. There are Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core / Samsung Exynos octo-core chipsets, varying by region. Other specs include 2GB RAM, dual-camera, NFC and MHL. The S4 looks visually similar to the previous S3, but the materials feel better quality and it is slimmer, lighter and nicer to hold in the hand.

Key Software: Samsung has clearly worked hard on its software and the results are impressive. There is finger-hover for the touchscreen, gesture recognition, improved eye-tracking, and better camera-editing.

Key Services: Samsung has layered a rich suite of Samsung proprietary services on top of the Android Jelly Bean OS. There are plenty of “S” services, such as S-Health and S-Translator. Google will be worried by this.

The S4 will launch commercially in the US and worldwide at the end of April 2013. Versions will support 3G, 4G and TD-LTE. There are 325 carriers in 166 countries onboard, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Pricing will be Note-like.

We forecast tens of millions of units to be shipped worldwide this year. Provided there are no major "hidden" bugs that become apparent after launch, the S4 will be another blockbuster product for Samsung.

Which competitors will be impacted by the S4? Apple, LG, Sony, HTC, Blackberry, Nokia, Huawei, ZTE and Motorola will all be getting some sleepless nights in the next few weeks. Models such as iPhone 5 and HTC One could feel some pain.

We will publish a full report to clients on Friday 15th March, 2013.

Global smartphone wholesale revenues grew a reasonable +32% in Q4 2012. Samsung and Apple dominate the industry by both volume and value. LG held third place, increasing +77% YoY, driven by increased volume and improved ASP from LTE models. This report, available to the clients of our Country Handset Share Tracker service, provides quarterly global smartphone wholesale ASP, revenue and shipment metrics for eight major smartphone OEMs across six major regions from Q1 to Q4 2012. Historical global smartphone ASPs, revenues and shipments from 2010 onward are also included. The report is a valuable tool for operators, component manufacturers, car makers, financial analysts and other stakeholders who want to track smartphone pricing and the financial health of major vendors on a quarterly basis.

According to the latest research from our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, Apple’s iPhone 5 overtook Samsung’s Galaxy S3 to become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever in the fourth quarter of 2012. A rich touchscreen, extensive distribution and generous operator subsidies have propelled the iPhone 5 to the top spot.

Apple’s iPhone 5 smartphone model shipped an estimated 27.4 million units worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2012. The iPhone 5 captured an impressive 13 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally and it has become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever. A rich touchscreen design, extensive distribution across dozens of countries, and generous operator subsidies have been among the main causes of the iPhone 5’s success. In addition to the iPhone 5, Apple shipped an estimated 17.4 million iPhone 4S units for 8 percent smartphone share globally in Q4 2012. Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S are currently the world’s two most popular smartphone models.

Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S together accounted for 1 in 5 of all smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4 2012. This was an impressive performance, given the iPhone portfolio’s premium pricing. We estimate Samsung’s Galaxy S3 was the world’s third best-selling smartphone model and it shipped 15.4 million units globally, capturing 7 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2012. Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has long proven wildly popular with consumers and operators across North America, Europe and Asia. However, global demand for the Galaxy S3 appears to have peaked and Samsung will surely be keen to introduce its rumored Galaxy S4 upgrade in the coming weeks to fight back against Apple’s popular iPhone range.

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Shipments & Marketshare by Model in Q4 2012 [1]

[1] Numbers are rounded. Updated total. The Samsung Galaxy S3 total does not include the S3 Mini, S2, S or any other related models. The iPhone 5 total does not include the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or any other related models. The iPhone 4S total does not include the iPhone 5, iPhone 4 or any other related models.

According to Strategy Analytics’ Country Share Tracker (CST) service, 15 countries represented three-quarters of global smartphone shipments in Q2 2012: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, and USA. During the quarter, Samsung was the number one smartphone vendor in 13 of these countries. Meanwhile, Apple captured the top spot in the United States, desipite early anticipation of the recently released iPhone 5. Indeed, Samsung and Apple have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, as the ony two smartphone vendors with double-digit marketshare worldiwde. More smartphone vendor shipments to 15 key countries worldwide in Q2 2012 can be viewed by clients here.

Mobile handset shipments experienced a slowdown in the United States and Canada in Q1 2012, while volume growth in Brazil and Mexico well out-paced the global +4% growth rate. Samsung maintained top spot in Brazil, while Nokia regained the leading position in Mexico. Apple continued to ramp up across Canada and the US, in both of which it holds a solid number two position thanks to an expanded operator presence and a multi-tier iPhone family. This published report, available for download to clients of our Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, tracks quarterly handset shipments and vendor marketshare for 4 major countries in North and South America from Q1 2009 to Q1 2012. They are Brazil, Canada, Mexico and USA.